The Tecumseh High School boys basketball team opened its season with a 61-46 win over Jackson County Western in Tuesday night's non-conference game.

The Indians got off to a rough start, struggling on offense and allowing Western's Isaiah Ingles to pick them apart from the perimeter, including two deep 3s.

"We came into the game wanting to punch the ball inside," said Tecumseh coach Marc Comstock. "We started getting antsy on the outside and were throwing up shots. Once we settled down and relaxed, we played a lot better. We knew Ingles was a great player and that we had to focus on shutting him down."

Ingles finished with 14 points, eight coming in the first quarter.

The Indians also struggled with Western's full-court press in the opening quarter, leading to turnovers.

"We figured they would come in here and try and push the pace with the press," Comstock said. "We played them last season, and it was very similar to then."

Tecumseh trailed 19-5 after the first quarter, but came back with a vengeance in the second.

The Indians stepped up defensively in a huge way. After allowing the Panthers to dictate the pace of the game, the Indians defense forced them to slow down. This played to Tecumseh's advantage as it held Western to just eight points in the second quarter.

The Indians began to work the ball into the posts and let Kyle Bryan and Casey Hunt handle it from there. The duo were able to use their size and impressive post moves to put Tecumseh right back in the game, combining for 27 points on the night.

"We are a bit undersized," admitted Comstock. "Our post guys are talented, though, and they know how to play in there. (Ben) Kasper also forces team's to play honest with his outside shooting."

Trailing 27-26 at the half, Tecumseh came out in the third quarter and continued to work the ball inside. Western attempted to double-down on Tecumseh's post players, but Kasper made they pay. Kasper made two of his three 3s in the third quarter — one of them a buzz-beater to close the quarter — and finished the game as the leading scorer with 15 points. Kasper added four steals and four assists.

"I couldn't ask for more from my team," said Kasper. "It was our first game, and we got a win."

Tecumseh continued to play lights out defensively and held the Panthers to seven points in the third quarter.

Tecumseh, now with a 43-34 lead, focused more on ball control in the final quarter. This tactic worked well for the Indians as Western never came close to tying the game. Tecumseh continued to pound the ball into the post, and Western was helpless to stop it, leading to a 61-46 win for the Indians.

Page 2 of 2 - "We had some trouble scoring last year," Comstock said. "So putting up 60 points to start the season is pretty good. It was a fast game, and we had a lot of opportunities to score. We're a more experienced team this year, and we're executing plays instead on just running them."

Bryan finished with 14 points and six rebounds, while Hunt had 13 points. Jimmy Terry had six points and five assists, while Ben Vannatter finished with three points and six rebounds. Eric Eldred finished with seven rebounds, while Jacob Britt added six points for the Indians.